Groundhog bites Wisconsin mayor’s ear

Six more weeks of winter wasn’t the only bad news that the mayor of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin received Monday morning: Jonathan Freund participated in a local Groundhog Day celebration that ended in physical pain for the local celebrity.

The mayor met with “Jimmy” the groundhog on early Monday, –
Groundhog Day – to see if the rodent, as per annual tradition,
could see its own shadow and thus determine whether or not spring
would come early to the southern Wisconsin town.

Not only did Jimmy predict six more weeks of winter, according to
its handlers, but he also made a meal out of Mayor Freund’s ear.

Local news networkers covering the Groundhog Day festivities
caught Jimmy chomping on his ear live on camera, and video
footage of the incident has since started circulating online.

The Associated Press reported that the mayor
initially misinterpreted the groundhog’s prediction and said
spring would come early this year. Jimmy’s handlers, Jerry and
Maria Hahn, then corrected the mayor and said it was the
opposite, but the city of Sun Prairie ultimately settled the
dispute by insisting in an official statement that only the mayor
can interpret the groundhog.

Across the United States in Pennsylvania, America’s most famous
weather-predicting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, similarly
surmised there’d be another month and a half of winter after
seeing his own shadow early Monday.